Three years 90 million, goodbye sun! Don’t want to admit the fact that you have to rely on Durant to win the championship
Three years 90 million, goodbye sun! Unwilling to admit that he is old, the championship can only depend on Durant. The warriors were in hot pursuit. With Durant out any time soon, it’s questionable whether the SUNS can hold on to the top four spots in the Western Conference. Next up, the SUNS face consecutive opponents like the Bucks, Lakers, Kings, 76ers and Nuggets. Their schedule in the final stages of the season is not easy. Obviously, in the course of the two-game losing streak, the SUNS exposed a lot of problems, for a championship team, this is fatal. With three years and $90 million left on his contract, his form is in rapid decline, his stats lie, he doesn’t admit he’s getting older, but he does rely more on strong teammates.
In losing to the Warriors, the SUNS exposed some of their more lethal problems. First, there is the question of stars. The SUNS had no defense against the back-to-back attacks of Clay and Curry. They can play defense with offense, but only Booker can match the Warriors on the SUNS ‘side. Ayton’s ball has a weak wind. He had little personal offensive ability with the ball, while Paul looked average with 11 points and 11 assists. In fact, when the SUNS needed someone to step up, Paul wasn’t the superstar ready to explode. His points and assists are more sporadic. Paul is no longer a super guard who can score consistently on offense.
The SUNS ‘second problem is the ability of their bench. The contrast between the SUNS and the Warriors was striking this time around. The Warriors have Poole to keep the offensive fire going, but the SUNS don’t have a proven bench leader. All they can do is get Booker back in court as soon as possible. Paul was again limited to 30 minutes. I have to admit, Paul is getting old. At 37 years old, he was feeling out of his depth. This season, Paul is shooting just 43.0 percent from the field, the second-worst percentage of his career and better than his return from injury in 18-19. In addition, Paul is averaging just 4.8 athletic goals per game, below five athletic goals for the first time in his career.
Against the Warriors, there was one very embarrassing turn for Paul. Curry singles against Paul. After the latter was driven, Curry made a 2-and-1 layup. He then pushed Curry with a small move. This time, though, Paul was out of his depth. When Curry turned to Paul and said, “It’s not 2014 anymore, and the cameras caught this round.” As a result, when a reporter asked Paul the question, Paul said he didn’t remember much. Apparently, the competitive Paul isn’t getting old. Despite his excellent 13.5 points, 9.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, Paul’s points per game set another career low.
Paul has another three-year, $90 million contract with the SUNS, including this season, after signing a four-year, $120 million deal. Clearly, the way the SUNS have operated, they’ve had some regrets, which is why they got Durant. Injuries began to mount for the SUNS this season. Paul and Booker were both out for a while. At their worst, the SUNS fell into playoff territory. It was clear to the front office that a Paul, Booker, Ayton triangle would make it almost impossible to win a championship. Now, with the exception of Booker, both Paul and Ayton are down. Cornered, the SUNS took a gamble and went straight for Durant.
The choice of the Sun can not be right or wrong, at least they have the right idea, and they are very decisive, not sloppy. Without a response, the SUNS will surely continue their downward spiral until they disband. They were a Finals team before falling to the Western Conference semifinals. A big part of the reason is Paul’s decline. The latter was blown out by Doncic in the Western Conference semifinals. No double, the mind is still top league, but the body can no longer keep up with their own thoughts. In addition to a few open 3s and mid-range opportunities, Paul even seems to have a little bit of a chance to create himself right now. Difficult.
The SUNS were a league sensation when they brought in Kevin Durant, but after the heat passed, let’s be honest, the SUNS aren’t a super team in most people’s eyes. In fact, only Booker and Durant have been able to detach themselves from their core stars. The Big Four doesn’t exist. Ayton and Paul, one of them has no independent offensive ability, one of them has dropped too much offensively and defensively, and the SUNS, their bench strength is really too strong. Too weak. Paul will have to rely more on Durant’s health and Booker’s play if he wants to reach a championship in the twilight of his career.
